Credit accounts give customers access to a credit limit that allows them to pay for purchases at a later date. You can also set up credit accounts as a way to refund sales in the form of store credit. With Lightspeed Invoicing, you can issue credit account invoices, track outstanding balances, and securely collect payments via email to offer customers more flexibility when purchasing from your store.

Sending invoices to collect payments from customers with outstanding balances is only available for merchants using Lightspeed Payments.

Understanding credit accounts and invoicing

When working with credit accounts, it’s important to know the following terminology:

• Credit account: Allows customers to pay for purchases at a later date through credit limits and invoicing or deposits.
• Credit limit: Maximum amount that can be owed by a customer. You can set this amount per customer.
• On account sale: A sale where the customer used their credit account to pay.
• Invoices: Sales with deferred payments are considered invoices. A detailed invoice with payment terms is sent by email to collect payment from a customer.
• Outstanding invoice: Any invoice that remains unpaid, including overdue invoices.
• Credit account balance (Outstanding invoice balance): The total of all unpaid invoices with a pending balance, either unpaid or partially paid.
• Deposit: Funds added to a credit account, usually as a downpayment for a special order, layaway, or work order. The Deposit payment type can be used to apply deposits as partial payment on a sale, as a credit memo for a future sale, or to pay down an outstanding balance.
• Credit memo: An available amount that can be applied to a sale. Credit memos can originate from deposits or from refunds from on account sales.
• Deposit balance: The total of all available deposits that haven’t been applied to an invoice. It’s possible to have a negative credit account balance with a positive deposit balance.
• Available: Maximum amount the customer can currently charge to their credit account, calculated by subtracting their credit account balance (outstanding invoice balance) from their credit limit, excluding deposits. For example:
  • Credit limit: $1000.00
  • Credit account balance: -$700.00
  • Deposit balance: $200.00
  • Available: $300.00

Creating credit accounts on the Customers page

To create a credit account on the Customers page in Retail POS:

1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.

   

2. Click + New Customer to add a new customer or use the Customer search field and (optional)
3. Advanced filters to search for a customer.
4. Click the customer’s name to access their Customer page.
5. In the page menu on the left, click Account.

   

6. Under Create Primary Account, click + Create Account Now.

Creating credit accounts during a sale

To create a credit account at the register during a sale:

1. Navigate to Sales > New Sale.
2. Attach a new or existing customer to the sale:
   1. To attach a new customer to the sale, click + New, fill out the customer details, and click Attach to Sale.
   2. To attach an existing customer to the sale, use the Search Customers field and (optional) Advanced filters to search for a customer. Click Search. The customer will attach to the sale if the searchable details have a unique match.

      

3. Next to the customer’s name, click Edit.

   

4. In the page menu on the left, click Account.

   

5. Under Create Primary Account, click + Create Account Now.
6. Click Checkout.

To pay for the sale using a credit account, the account must have a credit limit set up or the customer must add a deposit to the account.

Setting credit account limits

Credit accounts allow you to set credit limits per customer so they can use their credit account to pay for purchases and settle outstanding invoices at a later date. If the credit limit is reached, the customer must first pay down the balance before continuing to use their credit account.

To set a credit limit on a credit account:

1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
2. Use the Customer field and filters to search for a customer with a credit account.
3. Click the customer’s name to access their Customer page.
4. On the left side, click Account.
5. Under Credit Account Details, add a Credit Limit ($).

   

6. Click Save Changes.

To ensure customers can receive invoices via email, verify that Email and Yes, I have consent from my customer are checked off on the Customer Details page.

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